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Jon Patience's avatar

My hypothesis is that they are not expecting anyone to actually buy it, but rather for Kindle Unlimited subscribers to download it for free. Even if they only read a few pages before they realise it's drivel, Amazon will still pay the publisher a few pence for the pages read. Repeat the exercise with enough zero-quality and zero-effort books and there's serious money to be made.

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Rod Banner's avatar

Fascinating. I have read quite a few 'authorised' biographies that don't seemed fully 'aligned' with their subjects before. I put this down to the authors' desire to flatter and airbrush any unpalatable elements. But after this, I'm reconsidering.... ;oD

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Jenny Linford's avatar

As a writer who knows how hard it is to sell books, that's a very good question. I wonder if it's a scam prompted by opportunism - the technology exists to try it - rather than proven profit record?

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David G.W. Birch's avatar

Maybe they are hoping to build up a list of people who are rich enough to buy books but dumb enough not to check the details. This could worth a lot to other scammers.

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Jo Linney's avatar

This is quite scary, particularly for new writers starting out. That is not just a statement because I am now a curmudgeonly old woman😁, but a genuine concern. Sorry, if you can’t answer the question I definitely can’t.

Amazon recommended that biography to me as well. The front cover looked off so I didn’t bother looking any further. But I now wonder about all the recommendations

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